famine or feast?

Are we suffering from a famine in our relationship with God? Are we too busy extending sacrifices to Him that cost us nothing instead of crucifying ourselves daily and offering Him our lives? Do we spend more time doing other things than we spend in the Word seeking Him and His presence?

When we begin to seek satisfaction in our lives from anything other than God, we become guilty of idolatry. Anything that takes priority over Christ is an idol and will serve as a distraction to us. The enemy will use these distractions in our lives to keep us disengaged from the things of Christ and will eventually be the cause of deep famine in our spiritual walk. 

When we don't spend time in the scriptures eagerly searching for revelation of His Spirit and desiring a Word from God, we will begin to falter.  The Word of God is precious and a very necessary part of developing and cultivating an intimate relationship with Him. We must make personal bible study a priority in our lives. We must also spend time in prayer. Fervent and sincere prayer. Time on our faces crying out and reaching up. Pouring out and receiving. 

If we have found ourselves in a famine situation, we only need to eat and drink. Devour His Words. Feast on the Bread of Life. Drink deeply of the life giving water that flows from the Throne of Grace. He alone will satisfy those hunger pangs and quench that desperate thirst. He is all we need.

"For the Bread of God is He 

which cometh down from heaven,

and giveth life unto the world"

(John 6:33)

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the

bread of Life; he that cometh to me

shall never hunger; and he that

believeth on me shall never thirst"

(John 6:35)

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Sweet Manna from Heaven:

Laylah Beth - 5 1/2 months

Sawyer 

Bryton

 

Silas

Mercie

Eli

Mikaela

My girl with her little girl.

Mikaela with her little cousin Laylah Beth. 

a picture filled thankful thursday

"Giving thanks always for all things unto

God and the Father in the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ"

(Ephesians 5:20)

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I am thankful for 8 year old granddaughters, who still like to go to the park with their Nana.

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I am thankful for 5 year old grandsons that appreciate their nana's love of a camera and always oblige with a smile!

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I am thankful for little 3 year old girls in sunglasses.

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I'm thankful for my mother who took her 6 great grandchildren to 'build-a-bear' and had a great time with 2 of her granddaughters and daughter at the same time!

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I am thankful for little boys who love to play outside and love coming to Nana's house.

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I'm thankful for precious little feet in sandals ......

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I'm thankful for the start of ball season....

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I am so thankful for the first page of my 'One thousand gifts' journal that I started. It has caused me to be more aware of the daily gifts bestowed upon me by my Lord. Things that I usually overlook but now am very conscious of. Thank you, Lord for all that you do for me.

Join Dana for thankful thursday each week.



a heart of thanks

I am thankful for the amazing snow that we got last week. It wasn't much but it was enough to give me and my grandbabies a little bit of fun and a lot of good memories. Thank you, Lord, for creating snow in all of its beauty!

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I am thankful for 2 good books I just read by James MacDonald. I was blessed immensely with the message of each book and God has used them to speak a much needed word to my heart. Life is hard sometimes and we need to understand that God knows this. He sees us in our trial. He knows everything about us and He cares about these things. He pours out His strength to us as we need it to endure the trials, tears and uncertain times that we face.

"God allows pain in our lives hoping the pain will bring us to an awareness of His deep purposes" - James MacDonald

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I am thankful that God is my Protector and my Provider. I am so thankful that He watches over me and takes care of me each second of my life. I am thankful that He is my need-meeter and when I acknowledge my deep need with an open heart, He fills it with Himself. He alone is enough...

"I am the LORD thy God which brought thee out of

Egypt; open thy mouth wide and I will fill it"

(Psalm 81:10)

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I am thankful for grandkids and games with blocks and homemade play-doh. I am thankful that a stack of plastic plates fresh out of the dishwasher signified a great day with some precious little ones!

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I am thankful for a sobering walk through the halls of MD Anderson on Tuesday. So many people battling a dreadful disease that is no respecter of persons. When I got a glimpse of a 13 year old girl and saw her sweet bald head peaking out from under her hoodie, my heart broke. I prayed for her to be strengthened in her battle and for the Lord to reach down and touch her and minister to her and her family. I hurt for her loved ones that have to witness the struggle she is in and the feelings of helplessness they must experience. I saw a young man with a t-shirt that said "cancer sucks" and I had to agree with him. I am thankful that God allowed me this encounter and that He gave me new appreciation for my health and that of my family.

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I am thankful for my new blog look! I just love it and I thank Edie at http://richgift.blogspot.com/ for being such a precious woman of Christ. She is easy to work with and does an amazing job! Thank you, Edie!

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I am thankful for Silas' 2 new teeth.

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I am thankful for daughter's that love me unconditionally.

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I am thankful for the blessing of redemption. Thank you, Lord, for taking my sin upon yourself and for giving me the forgiveness for all them. Past, present and future. Thank you for the amazing gift of salvation and eternal life.

"For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

(John 3:16)

things that bring me joy...

Things that bring me joy:

**These 2 boys bring me much joy! Bryton and Sawyer are my youngest daughter's children and they are so much fun to be around. They are as different as night and day but they are both very loving and sweet.

Bryton crawled up in his mama's lap the other day and said, "Mama, I love my whole life!" Now if that doesn't fill a person with some joy, not much will. I love it when Sawyer says, "Mama be right back", everytime Ashlie leaves the room for even a second. He hates for her to get out of his sight and that is his way of assuring himself that she is coming right back!

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**The sound of heaven's rain playing a symphony outside my window in the early hours of the morning, fills me with joy.

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**Watching my youngest grandchild pull himself to a standing position and looking so proud of himself! Silas is 7 months old and is growing up so fast!

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** Eli hugging me tight and saying, "Nana, I just love you!" That fills my heart with joy overflowing! I am such a blessed Nana and I love this fella so much! He is a sweetheart and never fails to put a smile on my face and in my heart. He also just loves the pajamas I made him for Christmas and that fills me with joy as well!

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**My husband coming home after being gone 6 long days with his dad in Houston.

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**Seeing Mercie so excited about the dress I made her for her birthday party. She will be 3 years old tomorrow. Mercie is a bundle of sweetness and is full of energy! She brings joy everywhere she goes. Happy Birthday my little princess!

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**The spiritual longing I see in Mikaela's precious heart even at the tender age of 8. I can see God working in her little life and it fills me with great joy to imagine what God is going to do through her and in her in the years to come! I know that He has wonderful things in store for her. Mikaela has such a sweet and loving nature. She has filled this Nana with MUCH joy in her 8 years!

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**The look of joy on my mom's face last week when I surprised her on her birthday by showing up at her birthday dinner. She had NO idea I was coming and it was so much fun! It was worth the 350 mile round trip to see my mom on her special day. 

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**These 3 kiddos fill me with joy when I watch them play together. I'm not really sure what they were dressed up as the other day, but they were sure having a good time doing it! I am so thankful that the cousins get to spend alot of time together.



Mercie R., Bryton H., Eli R.
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**God's Word always brings me joy. This scripture is just really speaking to me right now and so it brings me joy each time I read it.

"I love them that love me; and those

that seek me early shall find me"

(Proverbs 8:17)

I love how God's Word shows us time and time again, that if we are looking for Him, we will most assuredly find Him. He wants us to want Him! He longs for us to seek Him. We need to be seeking Him early and then we will find Him!

**My Savior brings me the most joy of all. He has loved me from the very beginning of time and sacrificed all so that I could have forgiveness of my sins and eternal life. Thank you, Lord. I love you.

Basking in joy tonight,

Beth

Mikaela is now a Child of the King

Do you see the sweet girl in the top photo? That is Mikaela. She is 6 1/2 years old. Yesterday she made the life changing decision to ask Jesus to come into her heart and be her Savior. She is now a child of the King. Can I get an Amen!

When my daughter called me yesterday and told me about Mikaela coming to her and telling her that she had just prayed and asked Jesus to come into her heart, I could have just sobbed right here at work! Megan told me that she and Rod asked Mikaela some questions and that by her answers, they know that she understands the decision that she made.

I am so proud of Mikaela for making the most important and the best decision that she will ever make in her life. I am so thankful to God that He helped me to raise my girls to love Him and that they not only made the decision to trust Jesus as their Savior, but that they are raising their children to do the same.

When I left work yesterday, I drove straight out to my daughter's house. I just had to love on Mikaela (and Eli and Mercie of course!) and let her know just how proud I was of her and how proud Jesus was of her decision.

God is so good. He has blessed me more than I could ever deserve. In the words of Matt Redman, "My greatest gift to Him would be the least that He is due"

Thank you Father, for your precious Son, Jesus. Thank you Jesus, for shedding your innocent blood at Calvary, so that we could accept your free gift of salvation, have forgiveness of sins, and so that we can live with you in Heaven forever. Thank you for Mikaela and her love for you. You are mighty and powerful. You are full of grace and mercy. You are Truth and You are Life to me.

THANKful Thursday

Bryton in front of our house

Eli, Bryton, Mikaela on the slip & slide at Nana's

Bryton

Eli gettin' a drink (yuck)

Mercie

Mercie

Mikaela & Eli in my backyard

Mercie

Eli

Mikaela holding cousin Sawyer

Papa with his babies

Thank you Lord for giving me the wonderful opportunity to be Nana to these precious little ones. Thank you for a husband who loves me and loves our girls and loves our grandbabies. I am so thankful for the many, many blessings that are bestowed upon me daily. Blessings that I sometimes overlook, but when I find them am oh, so grateful! Blessings that I don't deserve, but because of Christ I can partake in.

If you get a chance - go to the "At His Feet" link on the right side of my blog and you will see some prayer requests. If so led, please say a prayer for those listed.

Thanks Sonya for this great way for us to bask in each others thankfulness

In His Grip,

Beth